The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[David Hingtgen]

MP Thundercracker in the US, TRU exclusive, seems to be coming this summer. Not absolute, but it's showing up in the planograms and "various reps/HE TELL ME" say it's true. Same sources are pointing to the older MP-03 mold, and not the more G1-esque un-Kawamoried MP-11 mold...

[CoryHolmes]

Thundercracker and MP-10 Prime? Might be a pricy TF year for me. I don't buy a lot of them, maybe one or two figs a year. MP Rodimus Prime and 25th Anniversary Unicron have been my biggest non-Robotech purchases for toys, ever.

I simply don't have the money to drop on a $600 figure, even if Hercules / Not-Devvy was tempting...

[mikeszekely]

MP Thundercracker in the US, TRU exclusive, seems to be coming this summer. Not absolute, but it's showing up in the planograms and "various reps/HE TELL ME" say it's true. Same sources are pointing to the older MP-03 mold, and not the more G1-esque un-Kawamoried MP-11 mold...

I'd be more keen on buying another first-gen MP Seeker if one of my Hasbro Starscream's wings hadn't busted at the hinge. But I do have Hasbro Skywarp, and the completionist in me would like to have all three Seekers...

[RD Blade]

Glad Thundercracker is finally making it state-side. Although it's an easy pass for folks that have iGear Lightning.

[GMANIFESS]

Glad Thundercracker is finally making it state-side. Although it's an easy pass for folks that have iGear Lightning.

Indeed. And i commend the third party companies, because, for years, Hasbro acted like they had no interest in putting out Thundercracker. Which is absurd... but regardless, at least they are finally paying attention.

[David Hingtgen]

Glad Thundercracker is finally making it state-side. Although it's an easy pass for folks that have iGear Lightning.

Unless you're one of the many Thundercracker fans that hates "baby blue" TC, and always wants figures in the metallic deep sapphire blue of the G1 toy. (this assumes that Hasbro is doing G1 toy colors, and not animation colors)

[RD Blade]

Unless you're one of the many Thundercracker fans that hates "baby blue" TC, and always wants figures in the metallic deep sapphire blue of the G1 toy. (this assumes that Hasbro is doing G1 toy colors, and not animation colors)

Anybody that pulled the trigger on the 3rd party TC is probably not bothered by the lighter blue. Just the same, I'd like Hasbro's to match the G1 toy color as well.

Shame they went back to the well by going with the MP-03 mold.

Edited May 31, 2012 by RD Blade

[kaiotheforsaken]

Any kind of domestic Thundercracker release is welcome indeed. The Takara version seems to be going for $250 or more and it's the one MP I regret I didn't buy. I just hope Hasbro does the same blue plastic they used for their deluxe Thundercracker, that figure looked great.

[David Hingtgen]

Assuming you're talking about the fairly recent Classics release---IMHO, that color is "barely acceptable"---it's kind of trying to bridge the animation and G1 toy colors, while not really matching either. It should be darker/deeper.

[kaiotheforsaken]

I was, I thought that was a great looking color. I had no idea it wasn't actually accurate to either.

[David Hingtgen]

Of all Thundercracker-ish colored TF's ever, I believe the original G1 toy is the darkest. BM Jet Storm actually came closer to the color than about any plastic Hasbro/Takara have ever used, but it's a smidge too light and too green.

MP-07 is strange in that it's kind of like a car's paint job, in that the color coat is just that---color/hue, and nothing else. ALL the sparkle/shine comes from the gloss coat. Very unike the G1 toy, where it is inherently a vibrant, sparkly, richly-colored plastic. MP-07 is more like dull navy blue-grey plastic with blue glitter inside---and then looks totally different when clear-coated.

(yes, I am incredibly anal about G1 TC blue--it is my all-time fave toy, fave shade of blue in the world, and seriously considered buying a "Medium Quasar Blue Metallic" Camaro because it's darn close in color in the sun)

[mikeszekely]

OK, I said I wasn't going to buy it, but while I was in Beijing I found the TF Prime Entertainment Pack for around 329 yuan, or around $55 US, at an Ito Yokado. Overpriced, to be sure, but my in-laws had given me spending money and I hadn't gotten used to working out conversions yet, so I went ahead and bought it.

Not a fan of the Deluxe Optimus. His arms look weird, and the fake windshield chest looks pretty bad. Best I can say is that he's got less kibble on his back than the RID Powerizer Optimus and comes with a better gun, otherwise Powerizer Prime is better. The kind of tie in vehicle mode. They're both a mess from behind.

Megatron is surprisingly pleasing, though. He's a shinier silver than the RID Powerizer version. His fusion cannon seems a little smallish, and he's got a little more back kibble than the Powerizer version, but having shoulder armor that's actually attached to his shoulders makes him ever so slightly more posable. Transformation is actually pretty similar... extend the crotch, get the chest armor down by the crotch, get the back kibble up around the head, fold the arms underneath, split the legs so that you have the rest of the bottom and the wings. But it works better on the Deluxe. His arms are folded up, making his shoulder armor the back instead of his limp wrists. This also has the benefit of not having his shoulder armor awkwardly jutting out in front of his wings. His small Fusion Canon blends onto the vehicle instead of dwarfing it. And the intakes on his back kibble are larger. The result is a sleeker, more toon accurate jet (although it's not perfect), where things peg together nicely.

I think I'd use Deluxe Megatron instead of Powerizer Megatron as my display Megatron, if it weren't for the fact that he's dwarfed by Powerizer Starscream and only slightly taller than Deluxe Soundwave.

[ErikElvis]

I just re-posed my valks and at the same time pulled out MP Megatron and man what a mess that thing is. I hope they give him a makeover. But not this year. Macross is killing me.

[David Hingtgen]

Reposting for all who haven't seen it---an AMAZING repaint of MP-10 Prime:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/552723-mp-10-optimus-prime-full-repaint-pic-heavy.html

Basically, he wanted it to look as realistic as possible.

[kaiotheforsaken]

What a fantastic repaint. The red might be a little too dark for me personally, but it still looks unbelievable. Thanks for sharing.

[chowyunskinny]

"Designer Shogo Hasui has tweeted that Takara will be releasing more information about their upcoming Masterpiece figures MP-12 Lambor/Sideswipe and MP-13 Soundwave at this year's Tokyo Toy Show. The tweet also includes the new teaser image of MP-12 Lambor/Sideswipe"

[mass driver]

Reposting for all who haven't seen it---an AMAZING repaint of MP-10 Prime:

http://www.tfw2005.c...-pic-heavy.html

Basically, he wanted it to look as realistic as possible.

This is the most amazing transformer repaint I have ever seen. It makes the regular toy release pale in comparison. Why can't you get THAT for 250 bucks? That would be soo worth it.

[David Hingtgen]

They're going to announce MP-14 next week at the Tokyo Toy Show too. My vote goes to Galvatron. (based on the new numbering system, this should be a new mold, not a repaint etc)

[kaiotheforsaken]

They are really cranking out the MPs, which I'm happy about. I'm really hoping we see a robust line of characters for this revisioned MP line. Galvatron would be excellent.

I've seen some folks over on Seibertron guessing MP-14 is a pack of cassettes for Soundwave. I hope to god they are wrong, Soundwave needs a good collection of cassettes out of the box. I'm normally not into accesories that much, but for Soundwave it is a must. I'd love to see some more info for him as well at the Toy Show.

[anime52k8]

I've seen some folks over on Seibertron guessing MP-14 is a pack of cassettes for Soundwave. I hope to god they are wrong, Soundwave needs a good collection of cassettes out of the box. I'm normally not into accesories that much, but for Soundwave it is a must. I'd love to see some more info for him as well at the Toy Show.

That doesn't make sense though, why would they use a whole number on an accessory pack? that would be like MP-04 having been just a trailer to plug onto MP-01 and nothing else in the box.

I just had a depressing thought. Soundwave is selling for about 60 dollars more than Sideswipe is, but if he ends up coming with multiple mini-cassettes they'll probably be where all the price difference is going. There's a good chance He'll be just as small and under-engineered as sideswipe is. If that's going to be the case I think I'd rather they do a larger toy and only 1~2 mini-cassettes.

:edit:

either way I want a box set of extra Mini-Cassettes. I want MP versions of Overkill, Slugfest and Squawktalk and beastbox.

Actually, that's the one way I can rationalize and be happy with MP-14 being cassettes; MP-14 is Masterpiece Squawkbox.

Edited June 9, 2012 by anime52k8

[kaiotheforsaken]

Well I think Soundwave is also 20-30 bucks more than the new MP Starscream so maybe that difference is for accessories.

There also isn't much to Soundwave transformation wise and long as his sculpt is solid and decently poseable I'll be happy. But the relative simplicity of Soundwave might mean he is less expensive to produce.

Also I agree on it being extremely unlikely that they'd make MP-14 an add on basically. It just happened to be one of the odder theories I'd seen.

[David Hingtgen]

MP-14 is Red Alert. (thus, there is no MP-12A or MP-12R)

[kaiotheforsaken]

And it looks like Soundwave will come with Laserbeak only.

[eugimon]

And it looks like Soundwave will come with Laserbeak only.

of course, how else do you expect them to milk this mold?

[anime52k8]

And it looks like Soundwave will come with Laserbeak only.

Darn, I was really hoping for Laserbeak AND Ravage. Now I really want to see some Cassette packs.

Edited June 12, 2012 by anime52k8

[GU-11]

What?! Only Laserbeak?! Cheap-ass pieces of.... Wouldn't kill them to add Ravage or Rumble. What worries me is that they might do the same thing eugimon said; repaint Soundwave in various colors (IPod Shattered Glass, Soundblast, etc.) and bait us by including the other cassette bots with these damn repaints.

[RD Blade]

Not to mention the Hasbro version.

[kaiotheforsaken]

I flat out wont buy repaints of Soundwave for other cassettes. If they release a multi-pack of some sort with a few cassettes I'd probably bite there. But I'm not dropping another 130-140 bucks because I want all the cassettes.

[GU-11]

Me neither--it's either a multi-pack of cassette bots or nothing. MP prices are too steep for multiple purchases just to get the cassettes.

While I doubt United RnF can fit inside MP Soundwave's chest, they might make decent stand-ins.

[David Hingtgen]

For how much MP Soundwave costs (they upped the retail price with the latest news) it should have come with more than one cassette.

[anime52k8]

I flat out wont buy repaints of Soundwave for other cassettes. If they release a multi-pack of some sort with a few cassettes I'd probably bite there. But I'm not dropping another 130-140 bucks because I want all the cassettes.

well if it really was all the cassettes, as in every mold and every repaint I'd have absolutely no problem dropping that much for all of them in one box.

[David Hingtgen]

HLJ still doesn't have MP-12 for pre-order. Do they normally wait longer than other places? It's been a while since I imported an MP so I can't remember. (I'm going to go with HLJ or BBTS, it pretty much depends on what HLJ's pre-order discount is)

[kaiotheforsaken]

well if it really was all the cassettes, as in every mold and every repaint I'd have absolutely no problem dropping that much for all of them in one box.

True enough, I wasn't very clear in my post that. All I meant was if the SW repaints come with 1 new cassette, that's wayyyy too much money to try and Pokemon the whole set from all the repaints. If they release some jumbo box of cassettes though, that is an entirely different story.

I also have seen some buzz that Soundwave's price my get jacked up to closer to the 200 usd mark (he's up for like 140 on BBTS now). If he hits around the holidays that could be a real gut punch for me. Holidays, Anniversary, hopefully I'll have purchased my first VF-25. End of the year is an insanely expensive time for me.

[Renato]

This is the most amazing transformer repaint I have ever seen. It makes the regular toy release pale in comparison. Why can't you get THAT for 250 bucks? That would be soo worth it.

My thoughts exactly.

[Twoducks]

Takara's strategy to beat 3rd party stuff is quickly making under engineered toys with cost saving few paint apps and selling them at 3rd party level prices. Genius!!